Day 16- Quarantine-Random Thoughts

Posted on 02/04/2020 by Grumpa Joe

I wrote the last three posts in the morning. This one is coming in late afternoon. That means I have more personal stuff to write about. No matter, it is the same stuff today as it was for the past few days. I live in a pattern. Get up, clean up, make breakfast, eat breakfast, read email, work in my shop, take a walk, and pray. Come back, eat lunch, then read a book, then after my lap top battery runs down I watch some videos on the desk-top, and  finally I am writing. I could end it at this point, but there are some things on my mind that have to be explored.

I am still fascinated by the dumb questions people ask of President Trump at his daily press conference on the COVID-19 problem. I have concluded that most of them are asked in an attempt to trap him into contradicting himself  or changing his answer. I am amazed at the level of patience he has with the reporters. Here they are trying to trap him into a situation that they can take hm down, and he politely answers. He knows what they are doing but remains strong to avoid the traps.

One of the situations that particularly befuddles me is the one where they try to get him to say he should have shut the country down sooner so the number of corona deaths would be reduced. Any ass hole who has a brain could answer that for himself, but that same a-hole would not be able to write an accusing news bit to tear down the Commander in Chief.

Another thing that amazes me is the level of detail Trump has on all of the subjects that come up. He speaks with authority on all of them. He is also smart enough to know that some questions are best answered by experts. He then passes the question to one of the doctors or bureaucratic heads to spout details.

The President and the task force are not afraid to change predictions based on new data obtained since yesterday. Scientists love data, and the more they have the better they can prognosticate the spread of the disease.

I am also impressed by the level of leadership being shown by the Vice President and all the heads of departments on the team. It gives me confidence to know that VP Pence can take over for Trump if the time ever arrives.

Trump is always positive, and he hates negativity. He sees successful solutions to problems rather than failure. That is a positive thinking technique called ‘visioning’. It happens to be a technique I myself use in my life and it worked very well for me in my career.

Yesterday, Trump announced what is going on in the war against Mexican drug cartels, and with Iran’s mischief. That tells me he is capable of handling many problems simultaneously not by himself but by directing his heads of office and his generals to assess and report conditions, so he can brainstorm with them. Once he makes a decision to go, he lets them do the job, and they do.

Trump is often criticized for declaring bankruptcy often. Yet, data shows that a typical entrepreneur business man fails three to six times before he succeeds. He doesn’t see failure as a negative, only as a learning experience.

After supper, I continue to binge watch ‘Homeland’ a TV series. It is based on the CIA effort to thwart terrorist attacks toward America. If only 10% of this story is true, it scares the crap out of me that this kind of stuff goes on. Since it involves Muslim Extremists I am completely engrossed in the story. So much so, that I ma dreaming up conspiracy theories of my own that can explain some of what is going on today. For instance, what if, the corona virus was intentionally released by a sleeper cell as revenge for China moving millions of muslims into concentration camps to keep them away from the general population? Who knows, my theory can be as feasible as any other. The Wuhuan area is known for its biological lab industry. It wouldn’t take much for one person to sneak out a vial of the corona virus and disperse it within the population. They are not afraid of dying in these missions when they are brainwashed into believing it is for the glory Allah.

I’ve made my points, and its time make supper, and listen to some of the daily press conference.

Filed under: Biography, family, muslims | Tagged: , , , , | 4 Comments »

How Can We Let This Happen?

Posted on 21/11/2009 by Grumpa Joe

The population of the USA is somewhere around three hundred and thirty million people.  Yet a recent report shows that one-third of the population is driving the remaining two-thirds. How can two hundred and twenty million be pushed around and controlled by one hundred and ten million?  Is it me, or is it circumstance that the ten states are all democratic. All of theses states have adopted the take care of everybody and give them more political philosophy that keeps politicians in office. Isn’t it funny that none of these guys and gals are poor like the rest of us.

There are ten states on the  verge of bankruptcy. California boasts of a law that requires a balanced budget, but they are still able to spend more than they take in. My own state of Illinois, where Barack Obama learned how to be a politician, is in dire trouble. We are facing a fifty percent increase in  income tax. I know that the tax will be increased right after the next election, but all that will do is give our leaders in Springfield an open check book to spend more. Where does it end? In the meantime, California, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Florida are asking the federal government for bailouts. In other words, they want the remaining forty, fiscally responsible states, to pay for their reckless spending habits. By the way, my credit card is maxed out, can you help me pay it off?

In coming elections, I will work against incumbents, and vote for new people, especially those without experience in politics. I will also look for people who are non-lawyers.  What can I lose?

Filed under: Cartoons, Conservative, economy, Election, family, Government, liberals, politics, Society | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

We May Indeed Be Nuts!

Posted on 12/11/2008 by Grumpa Joe
My Flag Flies Everyday

My Flag Flies Everyday

I am almost over the election. I haven’t blogged because the need to do so dried up when BO won. This week, however, I have to speak my piece on the latest of Uncle Sam’s idiotic moves. Why do we want to bail out GM? This car company has consistently thrown poor quality, and reliability at us in the name of “Made in the USA.” The same goes for the UAW. I tried my best to hold out by buying American for many years. I owned an Oldsmobile Intrigue for eight years. It was without a doubt, the best GM car I ever owned. I bragged about it’s reliability and performance. I tried in vane to get my kids to buy “American.” No amount of reason or guilt worked. Two of my kids  don’t even know that there are cars made in America that are not Honda or Toyota. They grew up on Honda, and Toyota. They are brand faithful. At the same time I was bragging about my Intrigue with 110,000 miles on it, my daughter bragged about her Honda with 180,000. All she ever did was change oil, and put brakes, tires and gas in it.  At 111,000 miles my Intrigue crapped out. It leaked fluid into the cyclinders and locked the engine tight. After I spent $1800 to replace a leaking intake manifold, I learned on the I-net that GM cars are notorious for this failure. They have had the problem for years, but have never taken any steps to fix it. 

The US car companies, management and the UAW, have let the Japs take them down. Now GM wants the tax payer to bail them out. The argument is that if they are allowed to go bankrupt, many thousands of jobs will be lost, thus fueling the recession.

The truth is that filing for bankruptcy will not be a loss of jobs. They can go on making crappy cars as is their usual business. The difference is that they won’t get any “free money,” from the taxpayer.

A few years ago, GM divested itself of a division called Delphi. Delphi makes electrical systems for GM and other car companies. GM gave Delphi as much pension debt as they could. Eventually, Delphi filed for chapter eleven. They couldn’t make a profit with all the baggage GM dumped on them. I know, because I am a stockholder. Want to know what happens to the stockholder when a company files for bankruptcy? The old shares become worthless, meaning the stockholder loses his investment. GM didn’t give a hoot about losing Delphi, it became Delphi’s problem.  Even though Delphi filed for bankruptcy, it has continued to operate for several years. They keep on shipping orders. They even entertained the purchase of another electronics company. How can a business that is in bankruptcy buy another company?

What GM is afraid of is all it’s incompetent managers losing their options and bonuses paid in stock.

The capitalistic system rewards companies that can design, make, and sell useful products that buyers want. GM does not do any of these things. They design cars that have a shorter life than their competitors, their designs are ugly, and they are made by the most unproductive union in the world, i.e. the UAW.

If we reward GM and the UAW with a government bailout, we are indeed nuts. Let the system work, we’ll all be better off for it. We won’t have to worry about BO turning the country socialist. WE will hand a socialist government to him on a silver platter.

Filed under: Election, family, Government, Manufacturing, Motivation, politics, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »